A 72-year-old man, who wasn’t registered with the Delhi Police’s senior citizen cell, was found smothered to death in his rented flat in south Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar-I on Saturday.

Police suspect the involvement of his 18-year-old help — who had not been verified by his employer
with the police — and four unidentified persons in the robbery-murder.

Vijay Sareen had employed the Nepalese boy, identified only as Harish, three months ago on the reference of a local cleaner.

Sareen, a retired property consultant, lived alone. “The killers tied his hands and legs with rope and taped his mouth and nose. The house had been ransacked,” said Harpreet Singh, a neighbour who called the police after Sareen’s maids raised the alarm. Singh added that Harish was missing from the house.

A cellphone, valuables and cash — the details of which were not available — were missing.

“A case of murder and robbery has been registered. We have identified the servant and his photo has been shared with other police stations and state police,” joint commissioner of police (southeast range) P Kamaraj said.